binding - any tricks to installing the rear brake cable?

74 Mk2 - even the simple tasks are not all that easy. on my third cable purchase - 1) an AN assembly (via old britts), 2) a venhill assembly (which is near identical to the AN assembly, if not the same), and 3) a Barnett HD assembly - the inner cable is a larger diameter, which keeps it from going in the cable stop slots. all three cables have a larger OD than my original, which makes it somewhat difficult to route and bend through the muffler hanger brackets. length wise, the AN and venhill are identical to my original. the Barnett is 3/8 - 1/2 inch shorter on the outer housing. all inner cables are approximately the same. none of the cables fit well, and all seem to be in a bind - the inner cable doesn't seem to slide smoothly within the outer casing. I can't use the Barnett since it has the larger inner cable diameter - I don't want to enlarge the slots at this point, because if I do, there's no going back. nothing seems to fit well.

looking for suggestions or solutions on how you folks worked around this issue, or is it something you live with. i'm approaching the $100 mark, and near my absolute limit on buying rear brake cables.

one thing I found, is replacing the lower muffler rubber iso mount with a HD oil tank iso mount - it's a bit smaller in diameter, and allows less of a bind where the cable exits the muffler mount. i'm also thinking of cutting a slot in the rear of the inner muffler mount bracket for some additional clearance. comments, suggestions, pics....

L.A.B. said:

https://www.accessnorton.com/Norton...support-plate-rear-brake-cable-routing.27410/

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I remember that thread. what i'm trying to do is install a new cable assembly. the newer assemblies have a larger OD than my original. my old, original, routed nicely to the inside of the muffler mounting bracket. there's no way the new, larger diameter cables will route the same. I re-installed my original, and it seems to also bind and not move smoothly, which make me believe, it something i'll have to live with. i'm guessing the only thing I can do at this point is lube the heck out of the inner cable.

joe czech said:

what i'm trying to do is install a new cable assembly. the newer assemblies have a larger OD than my original. my old, original, routed nicely to the inside of the muffler mounting bracket. there's no way the new, larger diameter cables will route the same.

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Do you think a longer (or shorter) cable would improve matters?

L.A.B. said:

Do you think a longer (or shorter) cable would improve matters?

Click to expand...

actually, I went back and re-read the thread you referenced. member Peter Joe posted about the factory adding a .071 washer as a spacer that is not shown in the parts book. seems that kicks out the support plate enough to run the cable on the inner side of the muffler bracket. when I took my support plates off, I wondered why there was an extra washer in the assembly. unfortunately, I did not reinstall the spacer. fortunately, I saved the extra parts, so I need to go back and add in the spacers. with a trial fit, that looks like it may alleviate most of the binding problem. Peter Joe also posted about some minor hardware changes for additional clearance. looks like I may have screwed up a bit on reassembly, but I may be on the right path on the binding issue. thanks....